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‘We need to go back to two metres plus’ says Bristol public health boss
People should not think they are safe from coronavirus just because they are outdoors, Bristol’s public health boss has warned.
Christina Gray said the new more contagious variant of the virus meant people should rethink how they interact with friends and family in any setting.
The Bristol City Council public health director said social contact with family members and friends was what was fuelling the spread of Covid-19 at the moment.
is needed now More than ever
“It is households and it is social contact,” she said. “That is the primary point of transmission.”
Pressed on whether the greatest dangers therefore lay in people’s homes, Gray told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it was not about a particular setting, but about the nature of the interaction.
“It is really, really hard to keep your distance and keep the rules within kinship and friendship groups,” she said.
During the current lockdown, people in England are allowed to meet one other person from another household in an open public space to exercise.
Many people choose to catch up with friends and family by going for a walk. But Gray urged caution because of the greater infectiousness of the new Covid-19 variant.
People should “absolutely” be staying at least two metres apart, she said. Prime minister Boris Johnson announced last summer that it was acceptable to keep “one metre plus” away from others if there was not enough room for greater space.
But Gray said on Wednesday, January 7: “We need to go back to two metres plus. That’s absolutely what we have to do now.
“We have to recognise the seriousness of the situation that we are now in and what we have to do to get through the next few months.”
People need to remain more than two metres apart, even outdoors, says Gray. Photo: Lowie Trevena
The new coronavirus variant is thought to be about 70 per cent more transmissible than the strain that has dominated the pandemic so far and is responsible for an estimated 30 per cent of cases in Bristol.
And coronaviruses “thrive” in winter, making the situation even worse, Gray said.
Repeating a message she is keen for all Bristolians to take on board, she said: “Assume that you and everyone you know and love is potentially infectious, and adapt your behaviour accordingly.”
On a brighter note, Gray said, contact tracing has improved in Bristol since the council’s public health team stepped up as part of a local partnership to support the national NHS Test and Trace system.
The national system came in for heavy criticism last year, reaching fewer than 70 per cent of close contacts of people who tested positive for coronavirus in England in one of its worst weeks.
The point of the system is to ensure people who are infected or have come into contact with an infected person are self-isolating to break the chain of viral transmission.
A person who tests positive for coronavirus – who doctors describe as the “index case” – are contacted by the national system and asked for the names of the people they have come into contact with, who are then called as well.
And, for the past few months, any index cases that the national team were unable to reach have been picked up by the local contact tracing partnership.
These local teams use their specialist knowledge to check whether infected residents need support to self-isolate, before asking for the names of any contacts and passing these back to the national system.
Track and Trace is working better, says Gray. Photo: Martin Booth
Gray said Bristol was already reaching more than 80 per cent of index cases, as recommended by the World Health Organization, but before local partnerships got involved the national system was only reaching about 50 per cent to 60 per cent of their contacts.
According to the latest figures available, which are for the week ending December 30, 82 per cent of index cases in Bristol had provided information about their contacts and 88 per cent of all contacts had been reached, Ms Gray said.
Amanda Cameron is a local democracy reporter for Bristol.
Main photo of Christina Gray: Martin Booth
Read more: Bristol at ‘most critical point yet’ in fight to tackle Covid
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